Losing inhibitions in distance education During the Fall 1993 semester, students at Indiana University and Michigan State University participated in a joint distance-education venture. A graduate-level topical seminar, Diffusion of News and was co-taught by professors in Bloomington and East Lansing. This particular distance education course had two special features. First, the class involved the full-time participation of professors and students located at two different universities. Second, the instructors used (sometimes within the same class period) two different common carrier interactive technologies: audio conferencing and two-way video conferencing. Background Two-way video and audio links are now possible over common carrier phone lines. It is relatively easy and inexpensive with the help of a unit that comprises a video camera, monitor, speakers, a document camera, detachable microphones, video codec, and devices that allow participants to control transmission of images. Since both universities had similar systems, it seemed likely that the two locations could be connected for both audio and video easily and relatively cheaply. Participants soon discovered that video conferencing via common carrier networks is not yet a seamless procedure. Difficulties included obtaining accurate information about the details of engineering the connections as well as the costs associated with those connections. Each campus operates a private network; this inhibits video transmission beyond those networks' boundaries. Additional challenges arose from incompatible digital compression algorithms, transmission rates, and carrier systems (ATT i.e. consolidating existing resources. This experiment heralded a different approach to distance education, one that supported collaboration instead of consolidation. Second, university distance education programs tend to facilitate instruction within a closed system. Thus, at IU for example, most classes connect the Bloomington campus with sister campuses across the state. To date, few distance education efforts have attempted to link classes with those external to the system. This was, to our knowledge, the first team-taught class linking faculty and students at IU with another university. Evaluation goals The authors received funding from Howard Mehlinger, Director of the Center for Excellence in Education at Indiana University, for the evaluative component of this project. The goals of the evaluation were: 1. To assess participants' attitudes toward video and audio conferencing technology. 2. To determine participants' responses toward the course and the way technology had been used in the course. 3. To assess the viability of video conferencing technology for distance education. 4. To provide feedback for future efforts in distance education. Method Information was gathered in these ways: 1. Participant observation at the Indiana site (15 out of 17 meetings), and at the Michigan site (one meeting). 2. Surveys administered to the students approximately every two weeks throughout the semester. …